Hawks' Trae Young to Be Oklahoma MCBB Team's Assistant GM, Donates $1M to Program

Atlanta Hawks forward Trae Young announced during an appearance on ESPN's NBA Today on Monday that he has taken a role as the Oklahoma men's basketball assistant general manager and is donating $1 million to the program.

"It's exciting to be a part of this," Young said. "Being from Norman and playing there, obviously, it's exciting times. I'm looking forward to being in this new role."

Young, 26, is following in the footsteps of Stephen Curry, who several weeks ago was named the assistant general manager at Davidson and is "helping to create an eight-figure fund to support the men’s and women’s teams at his alma mater," per The Athletic's Chris Vannini and Anthony Slater.

"With NIL and college basketball, the way it's changed, I think it's a perfect time for guys to be more involved," Young told ESPN's Malika Andrews regarding the timing of his assistant general manager role. "... I know for someone like Steph and me, we represent our schools off the court and in the locker room, talk trash all the time, and so now to be able to represent it even more, it's gonna be even more special."

Young spent one season at Oklahoma in the 2017-18 season before departing for the NBA, leading the nation in both points (27.4 PPG) and assists (8.7 APG). He was a consensus All-America selection and led the Sooners to the NCAA tournament, though they bowed out to Rhode Island in the first round.

Now, the Hawks star will be working under the general manager for the basketball program, a position that has yet to be appointed (though given Young's title as the assistant GM and the fact that the football program already appointed Jim Nagy as its general manager, it seems likely a hiring is forthcoming).

The school noted in its press release that Young's responsibilities will "include assisting with the evaluation of high school and transfer portal prospects, as well as helping negotiate player contracts in accordance with NCAA and conference rules and the team's revenue share budget. He will also assist with university fundraising initiatives to help grow support for OU's men's basketball program."

Oklahoma men's basketball head coach Porter Moser expressed excitement about working with Young.

"Trae's addition as assistant general manager is going to pay significant dividends for our program on multiple levels," he said in the school's statement. "He is a basketball junkie in so many ways. He's obviously one of the biggest and most recognizable on-court talents in the world, so he brings immediate credibility with younger players. But I can tell you that Trae also pays close attention to the national basketball landscape and is dialed in to all levels of the sport. His knowledge, coupled with his desire for our program to be the best it can be, will absolutely move us forward."